Corset



Patented Peb. 2, 1897.

' J. STONE,

(No Model.)-

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

JAMES STONE, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS.

CORSET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 576,289, dated February 2, 1897.

I Application iiled January 27, 1896. Serial No. 576,987. (No model.)

T0 @ZZ whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, JAMES STONE, of Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulV Improvements in Corsets; and I'do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in the construction of corsets, having reference more especially to the construction of the stiffening in the upper front part of the corset or bust portion of what are known as high-bust corsets.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In a corset embodying my invention the main part of the corset is constructed in the usual manner of one or more layers, to the outer surface of which are applied verticallyarranged strips, which are sewed at their edges to the cloth of the body portion, so as to form pockets, in which stiffening strips or bones are inserted. The bust portion of the corset is, with respect to the cloth portion thereof, constructed in the same general manner as heretofore; that is to say, it consists of main pieces or sections over which the strips for forming the bone-pockets are extended in the same manner as though the bones were present in such bust portion. The stiffening strips or bones are, however, omitted in the bust portion and the same is stiffened by stiening-strips of smaller size and much more elastic than the bones of the body part of the corset, applied to the portions which form extensions of the bone-pockets,

-this construction having the advantage of giving a sufficient degree of stiifening in the bust portion much less rigid or more yielding and iiexible than the stiffening oi' the body portion, while at the same time enabling the corset to be shaped and constructed with the same ease and convenience as in the construction Wherein the usual stiifening-bones are extended to the top of the corset. As a further improvement I propose to stilfen the bust portion of the corset between the bonepockets with smaller and more elastic stiifening, uniform with that used in the upper part of the bone-pockets, thereby giving,wl1en desired, a uniform degree of stiffening throughout the entire bust portion of the corset.

The invention may be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a view in front elevation of the upper front part of one half or side of the corset. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section thereof taken on line 2 2 of Fig. I. Fig. 3 'is a horizontal section of the same, taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

As shown in said drawings, A indicatesthe body of the corset, in this instance consisting of inner and outer layers a a. Said body A is made up in the usual manner of parts or sections B B B2, which vary in width from the top to the bottom of the corset, so as to give the proper shape thereto, and which are joined by seams b b. The section B is the one which extends from the bottom of the corset upwardly through the bust portion or breast-pocket and forms the central part of the same. The section B2 extends from the section B to the front of the corset, while the section B extends from the section B to the side seam of the corset, or that which joins the rear part of the corset to the front.

O C O2 indicate strips applied to the outer surface of the body-layers of the corset and forming the bone-pockets, s aid strips extending from the top to the bottom margins of the corset in the usual manner. Within the said pockets are located bones or stitfeningstrips D D D2. The strips O' C2 and bones D D2 are applied to the sections B B2, respectively, of the corset, while the strips O and .bones D are applied over the joints b, between the section B and adjacent sections B B2, and extend from the bottom to the top of the corset, passing over the bust portion thereof. Each of the strips C C2 is shown as divided by a central line of stitches c into two separate pockets, each of which contains one of the stitfening-strips or bones,whieh are in this instance arranged in pairs, as shown. In the case of the strips O C the bones D D terminate at a point below the bust portion, while above the upper ends of the bones the place of such bones is supplied by means of a plurality of narrower strips orstrands E E,

ICO

of stiii'ening material, such as bone, cane, cord, or the like.

In the particular construction illustrated the lower part of the pockets formed by the strips C are divided by a central line of stitching c into two parts, each containing one of the bones D, while the upper portion of said pockets is divided by means of three lines c2 c2 c2 of stitching into four pockets, each containing one of the stiffening-strands E. This construction gives a different character or quality to the stiffening embraced within the strips C C in the upper or bust portion as compared with the lower portion thereof, said upper portion, by reason of the smaller size of the stiffening-strips, being more flexible, both laterally and longitudinally.

Between the cloth layers a a of the section D, in the upper part thereof, are inserted strands F, of stiffening material, which are secured in place side by side and parallel with each other by means of parallel lines b b of stitching, which form parallel pockets for said stiffening-strips. The said stiftening-strands F F may be disposed or arranged in any desired manner, but as a convenient arrangement thereof they are shown as arranged in symmetrical order at opposite sides of a central line of stitching b2 and as inclined upwardly and out-wardlyfrom said central line. This ,arrangement of the strands gives a desired uniformity of flexibility in the part between the strips O C. The strands F F are made of the same material as the strands E E and preferably of the same size or thick ness, so that a uniform degree of fiexibility is obtained in the parts embraced by the said strips C C and the said upper part of the scction l5.

Those parts of the sections B In2 exterior to the strips C C and between the same an d strips C C2 at the upper part of the corset are also provided with stiffenin g-strands G G arranged to fill the space between the side strips C and C C2, the cloth layers a a being provided with lines b3 b3 of stitching, forming parallel pockets in the same manner as before described in connection with the section B. These stiffening-strands G G are also made of the same material and preferably of the same thickness or size as the strands E F, so that a uniform degree of flexibility is obtained in all of the upper or bust portion of the corset between the bones D D2, which extend at either side of the same.

The corset to which my invention is applied is one having a so-called high bust, and the strips O C meet each other at the top margin of the corset, an oval shape being given to the upper part of the section I3 in order that a proper convex form may be given to this part of the corset.

It is to be understood that the corset embodying my invention is formed by means of main parts or sections extending from bottom to top thereof and made of proper contour to give suitable shape to the corset and the'bust portion thereof, that the strips C C C2 also extend from the top to the bottom of the corset, and in case of the strips C C cover the seams which join the sections. The advantage is thus gained of giving proper shape and iinish to the corset in the simplest and cheapest manner, while at the same time the bust portions are made, with respect to the character of the stiffening, entirely different from the rest of the corset, and softer or more yielding, so as to better fit the form of the wearer, especially in the upper parts of the bust, where the stifl'ening of the kind used in the body of the corset is not needed.

I claim as my invention- A corset having bust portions which differ in the character of their stiffening from other parts of the corset, and consisting of sections, each section consisting of two layers of cloth,

'said sections extending from top to bottom of the corset and being widened at their upper ends to form said bust portions and joined at their edges by stitching, and vertical cloth strips of uniform width, extending from iop to bottom of the corset over the seams join ing the sections, said strips being secured to the sections by means of parallel longitudinal lines of stitching which form bone-pockets and of which those at the upper parts of the strips are more numerous, and spaced at closer intervals, than those at the lower parts of said strips, said cloth layers which form the bust portion being also provided with parallel lines of stitches forming bone-pockets in their parts between said vertical strips, stiffeningstrips inserted in the pockets in the lower parts of the vertical strips and terminating below the bust portions, and narrower stiftening-strips for the bust portions of the corset inserted in the pockets in the upper parts of said vertical strips and in the cloth sections between said strips, said narrower stiffeningstrips being uniform in character and more flexible than the wider ones in the lower parts of the vertical strips.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses. .i JAMES STONE. Witnesses:

C. CLARENCE PooLE, WILLIAM L. HALL.

IOO 

